Cancelation of Aksyon Demokratiko motorcade permit not politically motivated – Caloocan City administrator
Caloocan City Administrator Oliver R. Hernandez on Tuesday, March 1, clarified that the revocation of Aksyon Demokratiko’s permit to conduct a motorcade in the city was not politically motivated.
The team of presidential candidate and Manila Mayor Francisco Isko Moreno” Domagoso was supposed to hold the motorcade in the city on Tuesday.
The local government, however, issued a letter on Feb. 28 denying the party’s request because the indicated routes involve major thoroughfares which are under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
Aksyon Demokratiko campaign strategist Lito Banayo earlier said that the revocation may be due to "local politics" since their party mate, Rep. Edgar "Egay" Erice, is the opponent of Rep. Dale "Along" Malapitan in the upcoming mayoral race.
In a Facebook post, Hernandez explained that they received the party’s request at almost 5 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 24, and since the next day was a holiday (Feb. 25), they were able to process the application and requirements on the next working day, Feb 28.
"I prepared the necessary permit but held the release to first comply with our regular processes," he said.
Hernandez said that applications for motorcade and political/campaign rally permits are coordinated with the Caloocan police, the Department of Public Safety and Traffic Management (DPSTM), and the MMDA if it will use national roads or major thoroughfares.
"The Aksyon Demokratiko’s planned routes were mostly on major roads, thus requiring authorization from the MMDA. A check with the agency, though, showed no application was filed by the political party with the MMDA for the motorcade and the campaign rally. The MMDA informed us that it cannot issue a permit for the activities in the absence of an application, which prompted me to revoke or cancel the permit that we have already prepared," he added.
The city administrator also said that the team's activities also violated the MMDA's recently-issued guidelines allowing motorcades and caravans only on weekends from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m.
"I repeat, we issued the permits sought by Aksyon Demokratiko but were prompted to later on cancel it due to the party’s failure to comply with all of the city government’s requirements, which includes the go-signal from the MMDA. The cancellation was of their own doing, not ours,” Hernandez said.
Read more: https://mb.com.ph/2022/03/01/local-politics-eyed-in-revocation-of-permit-to-hold-motorcade-in-caloocan-by-team-isko/